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Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Episode 9 Review

“I abandoned all other infinite possibilities of mine, and chose that one…”

Kaori’s amazing on stage, but I think Emi gave one of the most unforgettable performances of the series thus far, even for what I’ve seen ahead in the manga. I LOVE how they backtracked to show us more of her perspective and her back story. Emi was one of those kids who could have chosen anything and EXCELLED but she decided on piano, and it’s her desire to play like Kousei did, that’s driven her thus far. It’s amusing to see how her temperaments really haven’t changed since she was a kid.

Rating: 4/5 curiously excited clouds

The rest of the episode focuses on a lot of Kousei’s destructive relationship with his mother, how she beat him when he couldn’t play certain parts right, how Kousei became fixated on winning competitions so his mother would get better and how he blames himself for her death because he just wasn’t “good” enough.

“The other pianists won’t let him hang back. They won’t allow him to stop. After all, Arima is a musician…” – Kaori

Kousei’s decision to challenge the stage again and overcome his emotions, or at least try to, makes him all the more admirable as a character. The art style in Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso doesn’t have bishounen-styled characters or particularly fluffy shojo sentiments, it mostly aims at a realistic slice of life style.

Kousei isn’t particularly attractive nor does he have a vibrant personality but his resilience as a character and his desire to take bold steps forward into the bittersweet world of music is what makes him a dynamic character to watch. He’s scared to stand on stage, his past haunts him, kitties freak him out… but he does it all anyway. You don’t see these kinds of contradictions a lot in series. Mostly protagonists go from a fearful and timid period of time, through a training montage and then level up to badass with unwavering strength in battle. It doesn’t work for Kousei because one, this isn’t a shonen anime and two, he’s struggling with more of an internal battle. But to be very honest, people in real life react the way Kousei reacts. We’re stuck on the past all the time, ponder our regrets more than once and there are some things that scare the crap out of us, but somehow, we find the resolve to strive forward and seeing these traits echoed in Kousei’s personality makes him a worthy protagonist.

While I did think this episode dragged out Kousei’s back story and made it fairly long-winded, I think it’s necessary to build up the tension. After all, this is a definitive changing moment for Kousei. Will his world be flooded with colour? Or will he descend further into the depths of his regrets?

“Without holding back, grasping with both hands, shaking my soul to its very core…” – Kousei

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso has really become one of my favourite series. That death flag hint with Kaori, all the medication she’s taking… yeah, all the manga readers and anime-only viewers are concerned, but I have quite a bit of faith in this series to handle all of this well. If Kaori does fall ill, it’ll be a huge hurdle for Kousei all over again because she’s become his main music inspiration but we’ll just have to see where the story takes us.

3 thoughts on “Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Episode 9 Review”

Where do you feel Tsubaki fits into all of this? It seems obvious that she has feelings for Kousei, and at times, perhaps even jealous of Kaori’s influence on him despite her rejection of emotions for the poor guy.

As a musician myself, the series has unraveled the realities of younger musicians coming from Asian households. It’s almost the series itself is trying to make certain Asian taboos known. I would liken to go as far as it touch on the subject of mental illness. Flashbacks of his mother, schizophrenic episodes, and black cats talking to you all at once? Scary stuff!

For Tsubaki right now I think she’s feeling some distance from Kousei because there are aspects of Kousei’s life that she can’t support him in, at least not in that Kaori can with the same amount of understanding. I don’t think we can really say there’s definitely romance there yet, Tsubaki could probably just be sad that Kousei just doesn’t rely in her as much as he used to when they were growing up and she probably thinks the friendship will change now that Kaori is in the equation. Whether or not Tsubaki turns into the archetypal third party unrequited love character has yet to be seen though it is likely. For the most part she’s either unaware or in denial of romance if she does in fact like Kousei.

In terms of young musicians and their mental and/or psychological dispositions… While it may seem that Asian households may be stricter with extra-curricular activities, the same can be said for a household of any culture and ethnicity. As a musician, artist or young adult that pursues something inherently an art form, to engage this art form at an amateur-professional level in competitions means choosing to deal with the pressure that comes with it, or at least force yourself to cope with it. Parents can only push you so far in an activity to a certain level before you have to find your own motivation or reason to continue.

… they really shouldn’t let any sort of cat or cat-like thing new Kousei before competitions LOL

That certainly is an interesting take I had not considered where Tsubaki is limited in her support for Kousei. Perhaps you are correct as Tsubaki is not a musician, whereas Kaori is, and there is a mutual understanding of the feelings and experiences they go through as musicians. Funny that it was Tsubaki who meant to introduce Kaori to Watari, only for this to take an entirely different turn.